Giant Pumpkins Part 2

LOL, now that you mention hammering squash bugs, I did that a few times and each time they splattered and squirted into my hair. Now I use baggies to collect them or I slap them to the ground and step on them.

Cricket, Ok sooooooo where are the pies?

I didnt make any pies. The pumpkin was not ripe and very bitter. I asked some experts why the pumpkin stopped growing and they said sometimes they just stop and no body knows why.


The 2nd 5 segment female had stem split this morning. I didn't know they could get stem split so early.

oh well, the other female was 4 segment. I didnt even bother it. Came back later to cut it off and the bees were having fun.

another view of the 2nd 5 segment on 1 day after pollination. It seems to be a very fast grower. Its a real shame the stem split.

1st 5 segment female Day 4 = 13 3/4" cc

The 4 segment female Day 4= 12 3/4"cc (longer shaped)

The 2nd 5 segment female started out bigger than the 1st 5 segment but is smaller on day two than the 1st 5 segment was . Just as well since the 2nd has split stem already.
I'll be putting a fan on them today and placing ice jugs around them again. I need an igloo.
Temps are hot. Highs for the next few days are this; 96, 97, 98. Its a scorcher and its only goin to get hotter. I dont know if these pumpkins can survive such high heat. They might Burst. Crossing fingers.

The other plants are doing better now. I don't think I mentioned that I had fertilized a small section of the 1000.4 plant too much by accident. The Main vine burned from the point of too much fertilizer all the way to the end plus all the side vines in that area. So I had to cut the main vine off and 3 secondary vines off. I now have to make the last secondary on the main vine the Main vine. Big disappointment and crap happens. So here is a before picture when vine was burning and I was panicing.

So after I cut the burned vines off, I removed all the fertilizer that was still on top of the ground the best I could and watered it alot which was two days ago and photo from yesterday.
Looks pretty good. This is two plants also. the 1000.4 and the 530 which are both 40 days old from germination day.
Anyway, I need one of them to pollinate by Aug 15 in order to get a 200 pounder for the local state fair for advertisement Display of Crickets Greenhouse. I must have a good female within 12 days from now. Sigh.
I don't want to use the pumpkin off the other plant 1114 Lishness that has babies right now cause I am hoping it produces the state record. Sigh AGain.

This message was edited Aug 3, 2007 1:15 PM

I have to start measuring OTT--over the top to see which pumpkin is out doing the other cause one is longer than the other and CC"circumference alone is not a good comparison.
And yes, I am a picture freak.
I put this pumpkin on a pallet this morning cause I just have a good feeling about it. Mostly Hoping. Pallet has 5 sheets of 1/4 inch insulation on it for padding. The pallet is on a slight slope so any water may run off but should not get much water on there after I set up the tent. And it has a gallon jug of ice next to it to keep it cooler in this heat.

At 1:30pm today: 5 segment female was 14 1/4" cc - 11" end to end - 10 3/4" side to side= 36" OTT
the 4 segment female was 13 1/4"cc - 10" end to end - 9 1/2" side to side= 32 3/4" OTT

I hear you about the heat Cricket. My pumpkin vines pretty mulch wilt every day around noon and then recover in the evening. I was looking at the vines today and I'm not completely sure the original vines are still alive. The original stumps are brown and withered and have no leaves left on them between 6-10' away from them. The vines have rooted down in a couple place and seem to be growing from there now.

One vine decided to go into the woods to escape the heat but it hasn't yet set a single successful fruit. It had one the size of a softball but that one just rotted an fell off in the last few days.

The vine that has had more luck put a lot of foliage up on the nearby fence and it seems to be the healthier plant. It's the one with a good pumpkin growing. I think it being up on the fence keeps it out of all the fungus and mildew problems.

Jeff

So you kept the 4 segment, thought you were going to cut it off.

My pumpkin vine is finally growing, but no flowers yet, not even males. At this rate, a pumpkin won't have time to mature before frost.

Just keep it sprayed with daconil. Remove all dead leaves or dieing leaves as soon as possible. Im sure you work alot during the day so misting during the hottest hours may be impossible but best. And in our Southern heat---I truely believe in Shade Cloth. I got mine from Atlas Greenhouse in Georgia. Maybe you could invest in one for next year.
30% shade cloth. AT least 20x30. Might be about $100
http://www.atlasgreenhouse.com
1-800-346-9902
1-229-532-2905
Atlas Greenhouse Systems
Hwy 82 East
Alapaha, Ga 31622

I also have a shade cloth that is 16x20 and 60% shade that I will set over the area where the pumpkin is at, hoping it will prevent it from bursting.

There was another 4 segment on a differant side vine that I cut off. I am still growing the first 4 segment.
Give the plant some Bloom Burst from walmart --Expert brand.

Thanks for the info Cricket.

I read your threads over on the Greenhouse forum and found them very helpful. A GH for winter and a Shade house for summer is definetly on my wishlist. Atlas seems to have reasonable prices and is close to me.

But the place where I have my garden is about 4 miles from my house and doesn't have any electricity or heat yet. Plus the water line is a leaky thing I cobbled together from an old one that was there so I have a few projects I need to tackle first :)

But I'll keep growing these pumpkins each year and watching your progress so I can learn about them in the mean time until I can get set up properly to grow a big one.

Jeff

I think I want to grow all three pumpkins on this plant until Sept 8 so that I might have a good one for the north fair. I am undecided. Was thinking since heat causes pumpkins to grow extremely fast and burst --- maybe if I grew more than one-- it might not grow as fast as with only one. Distributed plant energy. The heat will still be the same but less energy per pumpkin.
Actually I have two pumpkins under 90% shade with a fan and one (2nd 5 segment) is out in the open with no shade and no fan. I have to make shade for that one still but will not have fan at all.

The 4 segment female has picked up some speed and for two days now has grown faster than the 1st 5 segment but hasn't caught up with it yet. I really wanted to keep the 5 segment. But if the 4 is growing fast then i should keep it. Tis why I may keep them all. I will have to watch their growth habbits regularly. If all three slow down too much, then two of them will have to go bye bye. I'll be happy if they all three grow like my first pumpkin. They need to be at least 27"cc by day 10. So far they are over half way there and only been growing 5 days.

1st 5 segment female= Day 5
15 3/4" cc + 13 + 12 1/2 = 41 1/4" OTT

Refresh my memory, are they all on the same vine, or how many plants do you have going?

4 segment female= Day 5
14 3/4"cc + 11 1/4 + 11 1/4=38 1/4" OTT

All three pumpkins are on the same plant (1114 Lishness) but on differant vines of the plant.

2nd 5 segment female= Day 3 with a mildly split stem
11 1/8 " cc

I have two more plants but they are not ready for growing pumpkins on them yet.

How do you tell when they're big enough to start growing pumpkins? Do you pinch off flower buds until they reach a certain girth in the stem?

FINALLY seeing two small female blooms developing on my pumpkin vine!

Thanks to this thread, I'll know what to do. But there aren't very many male flowers on this vine, either. I wonder, can I use either butternut squash or gourds in a pollen pinch?

LTilton, as far as I can determine you never mentioned the name of your pumpkin cultivar. If it is a Dill's Atlantic Giant, a C. maxima, you will need another C. Maxima . Pumpkins are available that are C. pepo a group that also includes most of the summer squash. There are also pumpkins in the C. moshata group (butternut) only like species will cross pollinate. Some of the small ornamental gourds are C. pepo, but true gourds are both a different genus and species.

My pumpkin is Full Moon, c maxima. I know it won't cross with the acorn squash, but I was hoping for the butternut.

Next year, I'm planting a backup pumpkin vine!

It is always a good idea to plant a spare. There are a lot of types other than the orange pumpkins in the C. maxima group. Buttercups, Bananas, Hubbards, and Kabochas to name a few.

I see that breeders are making smaller varieties of forex the Buttercups, too.

Mimina maxima, as it were.

Yes I do gardenwife. I like the thicker older vines. The plant needs to be about 50 to 60 days old and at least 8 to 13 feet long or longer before pollinating for a Giant pumpkin. The other two plants are plenty long enough but I am not satisfied with the vigor of it or the length. One main vine is about 13 feet long now. It is already producing females but I dont want them yet. I want the vine to grow another 3 to 4 feet before i pollinate one.
Another week should be stronger vines and long enough for me.
The other plant lost its main vine so I am letting the last secondary vine take its place so It might be two weeks before that plant pollinates.

The older plant is a mess cause i had terminated secondaries weeks ago. One pumpkin (1st 5 segment female) is on the last terminated secondary of the main vine 10 feet out that I let a territory grow on in order to extend the vine and grow a pumpkin. The secondary is 6 feet out then the territory is 6 feet out. Giving it 22 feet of vine.
The 2nd 5 segment female is on the second secondary vine out 22 feet that has a territory vine 2 feet giving it 24 feet of vine.
The 4 segment is on the 4th secondary on one side of the main, 21 foot secondary with a 5 foot of territory giving it 26 feet of vine.
A total mess. But growing pumpkins.

So no one gets confused with my slang:
What I have been calling territory vines are actually called "tertiary vines" or "third stage growth". All three words are used by other growers. Just wanted you to know just incase they mentioned one of those and leave you wondering what it was.

the 2nd 5 segment female was not doin so well. very slow grower so OFF with her head.
the 4 segement female was also slower than the 5 segment so off with her head as well.
1st 5 segment wins the race. Only growing one on the plant now. I pondered on my decision forever yesterday. The measurements this morning helped decide. And by cutting of the others will increase the size of this one for the 10 day benchmark.
Day 6 = 17 1/2" cc. Lets grow a giant this time.

530 Lishness plant is doing great. I pulled 8 immature females off. The main vine is growing a foot a day. Giddy-Up. This plant may be promising.

the 1000.4 Lishness plant is still in shock from too much fertilizer but doin fairly well.

I been hauling aged horse manure and aged cow manure today and covering vines. I till the manure into some existing soil off to the side of the patch then I cover the vines with it.
taking pictures later today.

Fried Pumpkin for lunch

The pumpkin patch from a distance. You can see the caster bean plant on the left. Pumpkin patch on the right.

This thread just keeps getting better and better. :) I've been lurking, but now I've gotta come out. First we've got one of the most interesting hybridizing threads that I've read in a long time, and now interesting foodstuff! Fried pumpkin? It looks like you just sliced it thin, rolled in flour and fried in butter? Am I close?

Day 6 picture

you so close you can taste it.
6 day old pumpkin, sliced thin, salted pepper battered in flour and fried in Vegetable shortening. Veggie shortening makes it crispier. Taste simular to yellow squash. But deffinately has its own taste.

Thanks! I didn't realize that you used the immature ones either. I'm assuming this was the final demise of the ones you beheaded this morning? ;)

yes, ate the beheaded

Properly, our Dill's Atlantic plant belongs to my 8-year-old son. It grows in the children's section of the backyard, out of their own garden area. Unfortunately, two-year-olds can be hard on pumpkins, as seen in this photo. This one is about 2 weeks old, next to a 5-gallon bucket for size comparison.